Play the Senses Guessing Game

What You Need:

• 8 small plastic containers with lids
• Blindfold (napkins or bandannas work great)
• 4 food items with distinctive smells (such as onions, coffee, peppermint, vanilla, lemon, cinnamon)
• 4 food items with distinctive tastes (sugar, salt, lemon, milk, pretzels, grapes)

What You Do:

1. Put each item in a different plastic container and put the lids on the containers. If possible, don't let your child see what you are using.
2. Ask your child to tell you about the five senses. When she gets to smell, ask her to tell you how she can identify a smell. Ask her to tell you about things that she smells throughout the day. Talk about good smells and yucky smells.
3. Have your child sit in a chair at a table and put the blindfold on. Remind her that there's no peeking!
4. Put one of the containers with food to smell in front of your child and take off the lid. Ask her to smell it and see if she can guess what it is. After she guesses, have her take off the blindfold and see if she is right.
5. Continue having her guess the items until she has smelled all four of the "smell" containers.
6. Tell her that you are now going to use her sense of taste to play the game. Ask her how she knows what something tastes like. Have her describe things that taste good to her and things that she doesn't like the taste of.
7. Have your child put the blindfold back on and put one of the containers with food to taste in front of her. Have her take a small taste and guess what it is. After she guesses, have her take off the blindfold to see if she guessed correctly.
8. Have her put the blindfold back on and give her another item to taste. Keep having her try items until she has tasted all of the items in the "taste" containers.

After you are done, have your child help you clean up. Next time you eat something with a distinctive taste or smell something with a distinctive smell, talk about how you used your senses!